Representative Harry Warren,
♦This week started out with eleven House bills that were sent back to the House from the Senate for a vote of concurrence. The rest of the week continued along that vein with some Senate bills that had made their way through House committees and onto the House floor for final approval. Senate bills that were modified by any of the House committees would need to be sent back to the Senate for a vote of concurrence.
Here is a list of some of the more significant public bills worked on this week:
HB 223 - Electric Membership Corporations/Member Control. Representative Presnell (R) concurred on a vote of 109 – 0.
HB 240 – Insurance Technical /Clarifying Changes. Representative Dockham (R) urged concurrence and the motion passed 109 – 0.
HB 248 - Taxpayer Debt Information Act. Representative Conrad (R) moved for concurrence and the motion was passed on a vote of 110 – 0.
HB 255 – UNC Tuition/Surcharge/Advance Notice. Representative Glazier (D) asked for the body to NOT concur with the Senate changes and the body obliged with a vote of 110 – 0.
HB 322 – Commercial Driver’s License Requirements/Military Experience. Representative Szoka (R) received his request for concurrence by a vote of 111 – 0.
HB 332 - Notary Act/ Satisfaction of Security Interests. Representative Bryan (R) asked for concurrence and received such with a vote of 111 – 0.
HB 390 – State Information Technology Governance Changes. Representative Saine (R) was granted concurrence on a vote of 111- 0.
HB 587 – Alternate Act/Plan For Certain Students. Representative Whitmire (R) also asked for concurrence and was granted such with a vote of 112 – 0.
HB 662 – Limited License/Install Backflow Assemblies. Representative Samuelson (R) asked that the body vote NOT to concur on her bill, and the body complied with a vote of 112 – 0 to not concur.
HB 664 – Cell Tower Deployment Act. Representative Hager (R) was granted concurrence on a vote of
109 – 3.
HB 817 – Strategic Transportation Investments. Representative William Brawley (R) sponsored this bill, which is known as the Governor’s transportation reform bill; concurrence was granted.
HB 219 – Update References/Child Born Out Of Wedlock. Representative Glazier (D) sponsored this bill, which passed concurrence 113 – 0.
HB 331 – Homeowner’s Associations/Uniform Lien Procedure. Representative Bryan received concurrence for the bill with a vote of 113 – 1.
HB 597 – Bail Bondsman/Official Shield. Representative Malone (R) received a vote of 112 – 3 favoring concurrence of this bill.
HB 641 – Amend Conditional Discharge/1st Drug Offense. Representative Davis (R) sponsored this bill, which received a concurrence vote of 113 -1.
HB 649 – Small Group Health Insurance Technical Changes. Representative Collins (R) asked the body NOT to concur due to a technical error in the bill. His request was honored with a vote of 115 – 0.
HB 433 – Land Use Surrounding Military Installations. Representative J. Bell (R) asked and received concurrence with a vote of 112 – 0.
The following bills were among some of the major public bills passed this week:
HB 951 – Eliminate Tax Designation for Political Party. This bill, sponsored by Representative Riddell (R), would eliminate the NC Political Party Financing Fund.
SB 8 – Increase Fine for Vehicle Removal. Senator Meredith (R) sponsored this bill that will increase the fine for the removal of vehicles from private lots to $150, up from $100.
SB 25 - Hunting and Fishing/Active Duty Military. Senator Brown (R) in the primary sponsor of this bill that would modify the definition of active duty members of the U.S. Armed Forces outside the State of North Carolina as individual residents of the State for the purposes of obtaining certain hunting, fishing, trapping, sportsman and special activity licenses.
Below are some of the bills that were presented to the Governor this week:
HB 333 – Sex Offender Registry/Registration Amendments. I was a primary sponsor of this bill which strengthens the law pertaining to sex offenders and increases penalties for those who break the law.
HB 817 – Strategic Transportation Investments. This is an act to strengthen the economy through strategic transportation investments.
SB 639 – Board of Agriculture Modifications. This bill clarifies the authority of the Board of Agriculture over plants.
HB 219 – Update References/Child Born Out of Wedlock. This is an act to modernize the ways children born out of wedlock are referenced in the General Statutes by removing references to “illegitimate” when used in connection with an individual and to “bastardy,” to allow a child born out of wedlock to inherit from a person who died prior to or within one year after the birth of that child if paternity can be established by DNA testing, and to make other technical corrections to the statutes being amended.
HB 331 – HOAs/Uniform Lien Procedure. The legislation would stabilize titles and provide a uniform procedure to enforce claims of lien securing sums due condominium and planned community associations.
HB 641 – Amend Conditional Discharge/1st Drug Offense. This act would provide that a court has the discretion to determine whether to grant a conditional discharge for a first offense of certain drug offenses.
On June 19, Governor McCrory signed 56 bills, including:
SB 306 – Capital Punishment/Amendments. This bill repeals the Racial Justice Act, which allowed convicted murders to have their sentences reduced to life in prison if they could prove racial bias influenced the outcome of their cases.
HB 317 – Improve Education for Children Who are Deaf. This act is designed to improve the educational outcomes for North Carolina children who are deaf or hard of hearing.
HB 611 - Suspension Removed When Eligibility Met. This is an act to require the Division of Motor Vehicles to expunge suspensions and revocations entered on a limited permittee or provisional licensee’s driving record if the student provides the required documentation to the Division that the student meets the eligibility requirements and if the limited permittee or provisional licensee has never had a prior expunction from the permittee’s driving record.
HB 763 – Allow Alimony/Post Separation Support During Marriage. This bill amends the laws pertaining to contracts between a husband and wife to allow a spouse to waive or establish alimony and post separation support during the marriage.
SB 124 – Shoot Gun Inside/To Incite Fear. The act makes it a Class F (was, Class E) felony to willfully or wantonly discharge, or attempt to discharge, a firearm within any occupied building, structure, motor vehicle, or other conveyance, erection, or enclosure with the intent to incite fear in another.
SB 137 – Prohibit Co-pay Waiver/Medicaid Providers. This bill makes it illegal for any provider under the Medicaid Program to knowingly and willfully execute, solicit, receive, or attempt to execute, by scheme or artifice, a waiver of co-payments owed by recipients of medical assistance under Medicaid, with the intent to induce recipients to purchase, lease, or order items or services.
Please remember that the Town Hall meeting for June will be held this Friday, June 21, at the County Commissioner’s Chambers located at 130 West Innes, Salisbury, from 6:00 pm to 7:00 pm.
N.C. House of Representatives District 77, Rowan County
611 Legislative Office Building Raleigh,
North Carolina 27603
(919) 733-5784
